2843. If a father passes away, his Qur’an, his ring and the clothes that he was wearing will belong to his eldest son. If he owns more than one item of the three mentioned items, such as two Qur’ans or two rings, the obligatory precaution is that the eldest son should reach a compromise with the other heirs. Similarly, the obligatory precaution is that they should reach a compromise with respect to the books, the saddles of a camel, riding camels and weapons other than a sword.
2844. If the deceased is survived by more than one eldest child, such as a case where two sons are born to him at the same time from two different wives, then they should equally divide between themselves the items mentioned in the previous article.
2845. If the deceased has a debt, and his debt is equal to or more than his estate, then the items mentioned earlier which were the properties of the eldest son, should be given towards paying off the debt. However, if his debt is less than his estate, then a proportional amount should be given from the items which are given to the eldest son, to pay off his debt. For example, if the entire estate of the deceased amounts to sixty dollars, of which twenty dollars include the things that are given to the eldest son, and he has incurred a debt of thirty dollars, then the eldest son must give ten dollars from those items to pay off the debt of the deceased.
2846. A Muslim may inherit from a k¡fir, however a k¡fir does not inherit from a Muslim, even if he be the father or son of the Muslim.
2847. If a person intentionally kills one of his relatives without a valid reason, he will not inherit from him. However, if he kills him by mistake, such as a case where he throws a stone into the air and it falls on the other person, killing him, then he will inherit from him. However, it is problematic to claim that he also inherits of the blood money acquired from the death.
2848. At the time of disbursing the inheritance, for a child that is still in the womb of its mother, and would inherit if it is born alive, one should set aside one share given that one does not consider it probable that the mother is carrying more than one child. Precaution dictates that the share of one boy should be set aside. The remaining shares should be disbursed to the other heirs.
However, if they entertain a rational probability that the mother is carrying more than one child, then they should set aside the shares of the probable number of children, and the remaining should be disbursed to the other heirs. If, however, one attains trust and confidence that the rights of the probable number of children will not be lost, they may disburse amongst themselves the amount that exceeds the share of one child.
